Forever Evan
by Thistlefern
Summary: A geodude living in Mount Coronet is surprised to meet a loving trainer named Robyn and her team one day. After this day, his life changes forever as he learns the love of some trainers, and the cruelty of others, and never to judge any human or pokemon by the facade they put on.
1. Chapter 1

I didn't know who I was until I met Robyn. I didn't know anything about my future, only my past. Sometimes, I would lie awake at night (or at least what I guessed was night) and worry about what was to become of me. During the daylight hours, I would peer out of the entrance to the cave, looking at all the happy people as they pass my mountain. So many smiling faces…humans and pokémon alike. I encountered trainer after trainer in my little cave, but not one ever tried to catch me. Why? Because I was a geodude, that's why. Nobody knows how disheartening it gets to hear, "Ugh, another geodude?!" until you've heard it directed at you. I've heard it, in varying ways, 6,973 times, and counting. No one ever noticed the tally marks I made on the wall; they were always too preoccupied with trying to sneak past me.

Now, I'm not complaining that trainers don't like me. I didn't like trainers either, until I met Robyn. They force pokémon to fight each other, and no matter how many zubats tried to tell me that trainers and pokémon are friends, I just couldn't see it. A human commanding a creature that couldn't talk back to said human to fight other helpless creatures until one or both fell to the ground unconscious just seemed so cruel. Today, while I know that some trainer-pokémon relationships are strained, bitter, and degrading to pokémon kind, not all are. Some pokémon really do love their trainers, and the trainers care for and love their pokémon right back. Some can even love geodudes.

Whenever I do get into a battle, it means I have to fight with another poor pokémon that I don't even know. When I get into a battle, I have two options. One, I could win. I only know one move that can hurt my foe, but usually, the pokémon I fight are very low levels, and Rock Throw can easily make a little starly, which many trainers that pass me have, faint.

My other option is to faint. While fainting is a terrible experience, I usually choose it, for many reasons. If a pokémon that has obviously been trained to the max happens to pass by with their trainer, and decides they want to fight me, I don't fight back. I know I can't win, so I just let them knock me out as soon as possible to avoid any kind of serious physical damage for trying to be the 'tough guy.' But that only happens every so often, and thus, it isn't my main reason for choosing to faint. Personally, I don't like to harm other pokémon. The looks of pain in their innocent eyes haunt my nightmares, as do the glares of hatred I get from their trainers when I win. If I faint, I get to hear cheering just as my tunnel vision comes to a close and I am plunged into the darkness. They cheer when I fail. Seeing me fall to the ground, and drag myself to the safety of a crevice in the wall just before I pass out brings them joy. What right do I have to take that from them? Occasionally, if I was feeling especially generous on a particular day, I would get into a battle with the mindset that I would lose, just to see the joy in the faces of both trainer and pokémon when I was defeated.

The worst part to fainting, oddly, isn't the fainting itself. I've grown accustomed to tunnel vision, and then, later in the day, waking with a terrible headache. The worst part is when I wake up with three machops standing over me with huge grins on their smug little grey faces. They never let themselves get KO'd. If they get into a battle, they win, or they go deeper into the caves to train, and we never hear from them again. None of the machops that I live with have ever lost a fight. Obviously, that makes me weak in their eyes, and they get a sick thrill out of making me understand that. On more than one occasion, that meant blacking out again. At least I help them level up, and get stronger over time; I'm the community punching bag. Geodudes tend to be bullied by machops in our section of Mount Coronet, but none so much as me. New pokémon trainers often wonder out loud why we geodudes have so many craters and crevices on our bodies. Let me tell you, it isn't just because 'rocks form that way.' Karate Chop has a serious effect on the look of a geodude.

From one particularly violent machop attack, I've got a huge crater in my back. Usually, my various peaks and valleys don't bother me, but this one is just so embarrassing to me. Maybe it's because all the chinglings laugh when they see it, or because the machops love to punch at it and see if they can make it a larger crevice. For whatever reason, I tried to hide it from anyone I met. That is, until I found the stone. It was a polished, light grey stone tucked deep in a hole in the wall of the cave. It was oddly light for its size, but it was just as durable as any other stone: I hit it against the wall several times to make sure of that. As luck would have it, the stone fit almost perfectly into the hole in my back. It wasn't the same color as the rest of my body, but I didn't care. The hole was gone, and that's all that mattered.

So my life continued. Day after day, I woke up, avoided trainers to the best of my ability, and was defeated when I couldn't hide. After waking from my unconscious state, I would be beaten by the machops, laughed at by the chinglings, and comforted by the zubats, who promised that one day, all of us would have wonderful trainers who would love and care for us. Blind hopes, I thought each time they said it, and then I would feel bad about using the word blind to describe the eye-less pokémon. At the end of each day, I would curl into a hole in the wall and sleep. And the next day, it would all begin again. Such was my life. That is, it was my life until I met Robyn.

My life changed when I met Robyn and her team. Robyn was the first trainer that ever showed me kindness. Skylar, the piplup, was my first ever real friend. Dalia was the only starly that I didn't feel sorry for, or consider weak. Christopher made me feel protected, like I had an older brother watching out for me, even if that older brother was a ponyta. And Kyra, the happy-go-lucky little eevee, made me see that even though I thought I had it rough, things could have been a lot worse, and yet she was always smiling. I would never be the same geodude again. Because the day I met Robyn, I stopped being 'geodude'. From that day on, no matter what people called me, I was Evan. I had a name, and it was Evan.


	2. Chapter 2

It was pouring outside on the day I met Robyn. Though it was the middle of the day, the sky was dark grey, and no one was outside the mountain on either side of my cave, which was very uncommon. I had woken to the sound of the zubats screeching in confusion at the sound of the downpour, and the harsh clanging of the frustrated chinglings as they tried to explain that it was only rain. Yawning, I emerged from my hole in the wall, and put a hand on my back to ensure that my stone was still there. It was. This was a relief, seeing as just the other day two machops had yanked it out while I slept and hidden it. It had taken me the entire day to find it, and since then, I was sure to fall asleep facing outward, to protect my back.

Looking around that morning, I was surprised to see that no machops were around. Usually, they took every opportunity they could to show off their strength by battling geodudes. The only time I ever saw machops scatter and hide was when there was a trainer with flying-type pokémon around, but there were no trainers to be seen, either. This was very peculiar…where could they have all gone?

"Beware!" I suddenly heard a familiar voice cry. Turning, I looked up into the face of a medicham. No other medichams ever visited this section of the caves in Mount Coronet, so I knew instantly that this was the one and only local nut-job. Every so often, he came down from the upper tunnels, to bring news of events to come. Being a medicham, and thus, a psychic-type, everyone believed his forewarnings. Everyone, that is, except me.

"What is it this time?" I tried to mask my sarcasm, because even though I didn't believe anything he said to be true, I figured that the machops had already heard his message and run off to hide before whatever 'great danger' he had foretold reared its ugly head. I was curious to know what had scared them off.

"A great trainer is on the way, and will arrive in this cave today! This trainer is followed by a most formidable team! Beware!"

"A formidable team, huh? What about their team scared off all of the machops? Flying-types?" Personally, I'm not afraid of flying types, because their attacks don't affect me much. Besides, most trainers that passed through my cave with flying types only had little starlys, which weren't intimidating to me in the slightest. That is, until I met Dalia, Robyn's starly.

"You must beware too, little rock!" said the medicham, ignoring my question and referring to me by one of my least favorite nicknames. "This trainer is followed by normal, flying, fire, and water-types!" At this, I hesitated to respond. Water-types. Now, they worried me. Any of the other types that the medicham had mentioned would have been very easy to defeat, but…water-types. Even though I didn't believe anything this medicham had to say, I began to feel nervous.

It was then that the crazy medicham turned and ran back through the tunnel that led to the upper caves, yelling to beware as he fled. Glancing around, I realized that, not only were the machops hiding, but so was every other pokémon. There were no zubat screeches or chingling bells chiming. No other pokémon could be seen in the cave. I was alone. For the second time in my life, I felt completely and utterly alone. Being alone brought back harsh, unpleasant memories, and it scared me.

Desperate now, I searched around the cave, climbing the walls with ease and peeking into the crevices in the ceiling for zubats, but found none. I checked every crack in the wall I knew about for somebody, anybody. I would even have accepted the company of a machop at that moment. I had no fear of trainers at the time. Not even water-types frightened me as much as being alone. I longed for a familiar face, or even a familiar voice.

"Hey!" suddenly the cry shattered the silence in the cave, and ricocheted off the walls in the way only a trainer's voice could. Looking down from the ceiling, I saw that a trainer had, indeed, braved the dreadful weather and entered the cave. It was a female trainer, with long, wavy light brown hair that cascaded halfway down her back, and in front of her shoulders from both sides of her pale face. Framed by her hair were her robin's-egg blue eyes, which matched her short-sleeve shirt and knee-high socks. Over her shirt, she had on a brown jacket, which was the same color as her skirt and shoes. She had on a large red backpack, a necklace that sported three brown and red feathers, and a large red bow on her head. Also, she had a belt with six pockets, four of them holding poké balls. Her clear blue eyes shone as she smiled up at me.

"A geodude!" she cheered, beaming. Never before had I seen such excitement in a trainer to see me. I was so taken aback by this enthusiasm that I forgot my fear for a moment. But it was a very short moment. "Skylar, go!" she cried as she threw a poké ball. From the ball emerged a piplup. Just as I had feared: a water type.

The piplup stared up at me. He wore a pink bow on the side of his head, which made me question for a moment whether I should fear him or not. That bow made him look so innocent, and so friendly.

"Use Bubble!" came the command from the girl, and the piplup did as he was told. A violent stream of bubbles came flying at me, and I fell to the floor of the cave with a loud thud. _Guess that's what I get for thinking he's innocent,_ I thought as I got up. Before the trainer could call another move, I curled up, trying to defend myself, and I was careful to hide my back from the trainer and her piplup, for fear of them striking my weakest spot.

"Oh! He knows Defense Curl!" said the girl excitedly, as if this were some sort of amazing feat. With a wide smile, she pointed at me. "Use Bubble one more time!" and the piplup did exactly that. Wincing as I was again bombarded with the bubbles, I drew back, intending on fleeing. If I fled now, maybe the machops would be too afraid of the medicham's prophecy of flying-types to peek out and see me. Then I could flee without worry of being beaten senseless for it.

Then I saw it. I saw her fish it out of her red backpack, and hold it out, ready to throw. That moment changed my life forever. Whether it changed for the better or the worse, I can't quite say. But at that moment, I could think of nothing more terrifying and exhilarating then to see what she held. That red and white ball in itself wasn't special: stronger trainers could purchase much more flashy and powerful poké balls. However, it was special to me: she intended to catch me. She wanted to be my trainer, and she wanted me, a geodude, to be her pokémon.

"Please be my pokémon!" she cried as she threw the glimmering sphere towards me. It landed on my head, and then opened, sucking me inside.

How can I even describe the feeling of being inside that poké ball? It was everything…but nothing at all. I saw nothing, heard nothing, felt nothing…and yet, it was everything I could have ever dreamed or hoped it would be. I could have stayed inside that ball forever, and I would have been happy…and still, part of me wanted to get out right then and there. Every second was a struggle for freedom…when I felt so free. I stopped myself from struggling. I had to remember that this is all I had ever wanted: to go out into the world, and be rid of the machops and the endless, pointless battles within my cave. I would have a trainer, and I would have a team. I would have something of a family for the first time in my life. So I let myself be caught.

I don't know how long I was in that ball. It felt like an eternity and a split second at the same time. When the ball did reopen, however, I knew it must have been at least a few minutes, because I was no longer in the cave. With one hand, I shielded my eyes from the glaring light overhead. This light wasn't the sun, it was some sort of human-mad light similar to the flashlights some trainers had used to get through the cave, only much, much larger. In fact, they covered the entire ceiling above. I stared at the floor to become accustomed to the bright light. The floor was made up of hard, yellow tiles that reflected the light back into my eyes, so I looked around to get used to the brightness instead. There were large double doors to my right that led outside to the city, which I guessed was Hearthome City, based on the descriptions I had heard of the city. It was still pouring rain outside, and I was glad to be out of the weather. To my left was a counter, behind which stood a pink-haired woman, who was talking with a young boy trainer as he held out three poké balls to her. I slowly came to the realization that I was in a pokémon center.

"Hi there, geodude!" came the voice of the female trainer who had captured me, and I jumped backwards in surprise at the sudden outburst. "Oh, sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to scare you." Looking up at her, her broad smile and bright soft blue eyes made me feel safe and loved. I felt warm inside, which I had never experienced, being a rock and all. It scared me, but it also made me very happy. I wanted to know more about her. Luckily, she seemed to be able to tell that this is what I wanted.

"My name is Robyn," she told me, still smiling, "and this is my team!" With a gesture of her hand, she made me turn my attention away from her sweet face. How I hadn't noticed the team of four pokémon before, I wasn't sure, but there they stood. At the back of the group was the tallest pokémon of the four: a ponyta. He looked at me with an unexpected fondness, as if I'd known him for a very long time, even though I hadn't even learned his name yet. With a slight nod of his head, he gave me a small smile of approval. Standing at the hooves of the large horse was an eevee, who was smiling with an open mouth in excitement. I noticed that she had a scar on her front left leg, and another, deeper scar over her nose, and wondered how she could have gotten them. Whatever had happened, it obviously hadn't made her bitter, as most scarred pokémon tended to be. She was shivering excitedly, as if only the hoof of the ponyta kept her from tackling me. Beside her stood the piplup who had taken me down before. At first, I was wary of him, but within a second or two, I could tell he was not one to fear. He looked at me almost apologetically and adjusted the bow on his head absentmindedly. I smiled slightly, considering that we might actually become friends. Then, I looked to the fourth pokémon, the shortest of the four: a tiny female starly. Her feathers were ruffled, and she glared at me maliciously. With a flap of her wings, she leapt toward me, landing right in front of my face.

"Think you're tough? Huh? Do you think you could beat me in a battle, rock-head? I'll fly circles around your fainted body!" I moved back, intimidated for the first time, but certainly not the last, by a starly. "Yeah, that's right, back up!"

"Dalia, there's no need for that," came a deep, mature voice, and I looked up to see the ponyta walk forward. He put a hoof between the starly and I, being gentle but firm about keeping us apart. Then he leaned in closer to me, letting his head stoop to my eye level. "It is nice to finally meet you. My name is Christopher," he said with a small, kind smile.

I tried to introduce myself, but realized with a twinge of sadness that I had no name. "N-Nice to meet you, too." I glanced nervously at the starly, and was glad to see that she was respecting the ponyta's words and keeping her distance. The eevee, however, took her chance to pounce on me.

"Hi! Hi there! You're a rock! But you have a face! Are you a boy or a girl? What's your name? Will you be my friend?" she fired off question after question in an excited rambling stream and I could do nothing but say "uhhhh," as I tried to follow her train of thought. Tenderly, with loving care, the ponyta picked the squirming brown pokémon up and off of me, setting her down on his back. The eevee proceeded to climb onto his head, carefully avoiding the flames that made up his mane, so she could get a better look at me.

The girl laughed, covering her mouth with a hand. "You all are so silly!" she knelt down beside me, picking me up and cradling me in her arms. I felt surrounded, and constricted, but the embrace was so loving, I didn't struggle. "My name is Robyn," she stated in a sweet tone of voice, "and I'm going to take great care of you." She patted her ponyta on the head. "Christopher here will protect you, too, because he's really nice."

Christopher smiled, and said a simple "thank you," though humans can't understand the words of pokémon. Christopher never much cared, though: he would always give thanks to Robyn for her compliments, whether she ever knew his gratitude or not.

Robyn then pet the eevee. "Kyra here can be a bit energetic, but she's really sweet, once you get to know her." Kyra pawed at Christopher's head, smiling widely.

"Little Skylar," said Robyn as she poked the beak of her piplup, "wouldn't hurt a fly, would you Skylar?" Skylar shook his head. "N-No, and I'm really sorry I had to attack you…she just wanted to catch you so bad…s-so I hope you're not mad…" he said shyly, kicking at the floor a bit with his yellow foot. I smiled at him. "I'm not." I reassured. Skylar seemed relieved and he smiled shyly at me.

"And Dalia won't hurt you, even though she's tough," said Robyn with a giggle. Dalia ruffled her feathers again, muttering a defiant "we'll see about that…" as she looked at me ferociously.

I looked up at Robyn and smiled. I didn't bother to say anything, because I knew she wouldn't be able to understand me. If she hadn't said anything to me, I would have understood her, also. Her embrace, kind eyes and warm smile proved to me that even though we had known each other for such a short time that somehow, she had managed to find it in her heart to love a geodude.

"This was in your back," she said as she held up my stone. My eyes widened, surprised that I hadn't noticed my stone was gone. I reached for it, nervous that she would keep it from me. Without any reluctance, she let me take it back. Protecting it with both hands, my stone was warm from having been in her pocket. "That's an everstone. Do you know what that means? You won't evolve if you hold it." I searched her face for some sign of disapproval, but she only gave me a smile. "If you want to keep it, you can. I don't mind if you decide not to evolve, because you're such a cute little geodude!"

These words shocked me more than anything I had ever heard before. She…thought I was cute? Robyn, this trainer, wanted a rock as a pokémon. She wanted me, a rock, as a friend. And she didn't want me to change. No longer was I scared of her, or her love for me. Holding my rock in one arm, I flung my other arm around her neck, smiling widely. So this is what it felt like to have a true friend. This is what it felt like to be loved.

As she hugged me back, she spoke softly. "Everstone…Evan. Do you like that name? Evan?"

"Yes," I whispered. "Yes, I love the name."

All she heard was "Geodude." And I didn't care. She knew I loved it.

"Welcome to the team, Evan. Welcome to the family."


	3. Chapter 3

By the next morning, the rain had cleared, and the city of Hearthome was bustling, the streets crowded by trainers and their pokémon. Narrowly avoiding a bicyclist as he sped by, I did my best to keep close to Robyn. She slowed her speed to let me catch up, which I was glad of. Even though I had just met her, I had begun to trust her, and had no desire to become separated in this unfamiliar town. Never before had I been outside of the mountain cave I had hatched in, and now I wished I could go back. Living with chinglings all my life had taught me that loud noises were terribly headache inducing, and I was beginning to get a migraine in this town.

"Christopher will give you a ride if you want, Evan! Right, Christopher? Won't you give Evan a ride?" chirped Kyra the eevee enthusiastically from the fire-type pokémon's back. He tilted his nose downward and then brought it back up in a nod before smiling down at me. "See?"

"Do you need a ride?" inquired Christopher in his deep, caring voice.

I shook my head. "No thank you," I replied, trying not to show my exasperation with the situation I was in. I didn't want to cause them worry, and I certainly didn't want to ride so high up in the air. I had a feeling that I would fall off and make my headache even less bearable. With effort, I put on a smile to mask the pain. Something in Christopher's deep brown eyes told me that he didn't believe my feigned smile for one second, but he didn't press. He turned his head to face forward and kept walking on beside Robyn.

I tried not to look at other trainers as we passed. I made that mistake the first time we passed another trainer on the way out of the pokémon center. He looked down at me, scoffed, and then burst out laughing. Quickly, I averted my gaze, staring at the muddy brown path we walked along, and kept my eyes down the entire time we walked through Hearthome, so long as I wasn't spoken to. I had gotten my hopes up when I had met Robyn. I had thought that maybe things would be different somehow, that maybe I would get more respect from others when I had a trainer. It was a stupid hope, really.

Soon after leaving the pokémon center, we entered a blue-roofed building. Inside, a counter similar to that in the pokémon center stood off to the left, behind which stood two brown haired women in orange aprons. They smiled as we entered and chimed a cheerful "welcome!" in unison. Across the rest of the floor were display cases full of strange bottles full of liquids of different colors, and poké balls of all sorts. I took in the sights in awe, realizing that I was inside a poké mart for the first time.

Robyn walked up to the counter. "Hello, what can I do for you today?" asked one of the women behind the counter.

"Three super potions, please," replied Robyn as she took out a wallet from a pocket in her backpack. A few coins dropped out, and rolled on the floor for a few feet before falling on their side. I reached down to pick one up, but Dalia swooped down from Robyn's head, where she had been perched the entire morning, and picked up the coins herself, giving me a look of disdain as she did so. "Thank you, Dalia," said Robyn with a smile as she took the coins from the starly.

"That will be 2,100 pokédollars, please!" the woman declared pleasantly, and Robyn handed over several coins, getting three odd bottles with a deep orange liquid inside in return. After receiving a pleasant "thank you!" from the cheerful women, we left the store, and set out, heading out of the city and onto a route I had never seen before. Glancing behind me, I could see Mount Coronet growing smaller and smaller as it faded into the distance. It seemed strange to me, and it still feels strange to this day, that I didn't feel even one twinge of regret or homesickness as I watched my home disappear behind me. Even though I had lived there my entire life, I had never really felt accepted or wanted or loved there. I had never felt home. Now I did, and I knew that I was never going back.

From what I had heard, I inferred that this was Route 209, the road that headed east from Hearthome City. I looked around in awe at the enormous trees that surrounded us as we walked. Inadvertently, I began to move closer to Robyn as she walked, somewhat intimidated by the wide open space. She smiled down at me reassuringly, which would have been comforting if Dalia hadn't been on her head, staring down at me mockingly.

The further we walked, the more amazing the view became. The road opened up, and slow-moving streams snaked across the ground in every direction I looked. Fishermen lined the docks that stood out over the water, and held their rods patiently in hopes of catching fish pokémon. Some waved and smiled as we walked along bridges near them, and Robyn waved back with a kind smile on her face. That's something I'll always remember about Robyn; her smile was always so captivating and warm. It's hard to find such uninhibited kindness in the world anymore…

We had only been walking for about an hour when Robyn suddenly stopped, and her entire demeanor changed. Without any warning, she had gone from chipper and exuberant to exhausted and ill. She stumbled slightly, and would have fallen to her knees if Christopher hadn't been there. Her arms wrapped around the neck of the small horse, and he gently helped her to a tree, walking slowly so she could manage to walk beside him. Her legs were shaking, and could barely hold her up. Kyra, who was still on Christopher's head, leaned down, gently wiping at her brow with a paw, because Robyn had broken into a sweat. Dalia also helped ease her fever by flapping her tiny wings. Skylar walked at her feet, looking up at her with an unsettling amount of fear in his soft eyes. Once Robyn was seated comfortingly under a tree, her head resting against the sturdy trunk, Skylar hopped into her lap, reached around her and into her backpack, and pulled out a water bottle that contained a small amount of water. Opening his beak, he released a stream of water into the bottle, filling it in a matter of seconds. He passed it to Robyn, who smiled weakly at him.

"Thank you, Skylar." The weakness in her voice startled me. She sounded drained of all energy. All the spunk and lightheartedness she had possessed when I had first met her had disappeared in an instant. What had happened to her? Was she sick? Would she die out here? Questions were beginning make my head spin, and the headache that I'd had in Hearthome came back. I joined her in the shade of the tree, and she smiled down weakly at me. "Don't worry, Evan, I'll be alright, I promise. I just need a little rest." With these words, she closed her eyes. Christopher lay down beside her, letting Robyn rest her head on his back. Soon, she was sleeping peacefully. There was a solid ten minutes of silence before I could muster the courage to speak.

"Is Robyn sick?" was what I managed to utter. The others looked at me, and Christopher opened his mouth to answer, but Dalia contributed her two cents first.

"No, she just falls to the ground sometimes. How dumb can you be? Of course she's sick! What was your first clue?"

"Dalia, that's enough," said Christopher firmly but gently, and Dalia closed her beak, ruffling her feathers in exasperation. The ponyta looked at me, his eyes sad. "Yes, Robyn is quite sick. She's anemic. She has a very serious case of anemia, and if she doesn't rest often, she becomes very sick." He looked at his trainer with concern in his eyes. "She tries to be so chipper and happy about life, but that only exhausts her further." I felt my heart sink. Robyn was actually sick…really sick. I had only just met her, and now I was beginning to wonder how long I was going to be with her. Glancing at the others, it was evident that they were upset as well. Even Dalia turned away, her head bowed as she tried to hide the concern in her eyes.

There was more silence. Kyra fell asleep on Christopher's head while we rested there. Looking up at her, another question arose in my mind. It was something I had been wondering, but hadn't dared ask while the little eevee was awake. "Where did Kyra get those scars?" Once again, the others looked at me. Skylar seemed shocked that I, or perhaps that anyone, had dared to ask. Dalia surprised me with a look of hatred so strong that I feared she would fly over and rip my eyes out with her beak. As always, Christopher looked at me with soft, understanding eyes, but they were also sad, as they had been when he had spoken of Robyn's sickness.

"Robyn was not Kyra's first owner. Kyra was hatched from an egg by another pokémon trainer. Her old trainer was obsessed with having only the strongest pokémon, and so when his egg hatched and Kyra became his, he was very unhappy. Eevees aren't exactly considered to be one of the strongest pokémon in the world…" he looked at little Kyra, who was smiling innocently in her pleasant slumber. He gently nuzzled her with his snout, and her tail flicked contentedly as he did so. "Her old trainer forced her into battles that she couldn't handle," he continued, "and she got her scars in a battle with a wild pokémon. Kyra never told us what kind of pokémon it was, just that it was a bug pokémon, that it was huge, and that the trainer actually looked scared when he saw it…" Christopher looked out into the distance, as if in thought. After a moment, he sighed, and looked back at me. "Kyra was abandoned by her trainer, and Robyn found her soon after. She gave her the name Kyra, and they've been together ever since."

I was shocked. Someone had forced little Kyra into a battle as a newly hatched eevee…and then left her to die. My faith in trainers was dwindling. I had only just begun to trust trainers, thanks to Robyn, but now…how could someone be so cruel? Shifting my gaze to Kyra, I was overwhelmed with a sense of amazement. How could she sleep? How could she dream peacefully? How was she able to be so chipper, so loving, so trusting of Robyn and of everybody after what she'd been through? What right did I have to be sad and scared and defensive around trainers when I'd lived relatively safely in a cave all my life?

It was at this moment of self-loathing that Robyn began to stir. Yawning and stretching her arms outward, she sat up. After rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she smiled at us. "Ready to get going, gang?" she said cheerfully, now back to her normal self. Christopher stood, careful not to wake the still sleeping Kyra, and nodded his large head. Dalia flew up and landed on Robyn's head, and Skylar grabbed one of her legs with one of his flippers, smiling up at her. Robyn giggled and started walking, then looked back at me. "Are you coming Evan?" I was jolted out of my thoughts, and I met her gaze. I then joined the others, and we were on our way.

We rested twice more that day. Once, in the heat of the afternoon, we sat down for about an hour and had lunch, and Robyn took another short nap. When next we rested, it was dark, and the sky was filled with stars. Lights could be seen in the distance, and I tried to figure out which city we would be coming up on.

"We're almost to Solaceon Town," Robyn said, answering my unasked question. Then she yawned, and leaned on Christopher, letting him support her weight. "But let's rest here for the night. I'm tired…and it's always nice to sleep under the stars," she said with a smile.

We found a patch of grass off the road slightly and lay down, Robyn quickly falling asleep. Christopher was again her pillow, and the rest of us lay near them. Resting on my back, I stared up at the stars in awe. They shone so brightly out here, away from the city, and I could see them so much more clearly than when I had been in the cave. To think that they were so far away from our world, from all the sorrow and fear in our world was almost too much for me to fathom. No wonder they shone so brightly…they were thousands and thousands of miles from the pain of the living world.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" I jumped a bit at the sound of Skylar's voice. When I looked at him, he looked worried. "Sorry, did I interrupt your thoughts?" After a moment's pause, I shook my head, and he relaxed. "Oh, alright, good." His soft smile returned. I forced myself to return the smile. He wasn't such a bad guy…he was the first water pokémon I'd ever met that I felt I could befriend. I looked at the pink bow on his head, and he put a flipper on it, his smile widening.

"Robyn gave that to me when I first met her. Robyn's from Sandgem Town; you know, where Professor Rowan's lab is. I was one of Rowan's pokémon, once," he said, looking back up at the stars. I kept looking at him, intrigued now to learn his story. "I was his pokémon as long as I could remember…I believe that I hatched from an egg in his lab. There were three others, also, a chimchar, a turtwig, and another piplup, like me." He smiled slightly, apparently remembering the old days. "That turtwig was tough, but modest. He never showed off his power, even though he had a lot of it. The chimchar was cocky." He giggled lightly. "Yeah, he would charge into battles all the time. But he was a good loser. He'd laugh at himself if he lost, and he'd congratulate whoever won on winning. He was a good winner, too. I lost to him once, and he helped me back up after I fell and told me that next time I'd beat him." Skylar sighed. "The other piplup was my brother. My brother was cocky, too, but not in a good way. He was a sore loser, and a proud winner. He was quiet, too, and he would only talk to you if you were battling him, and it was only to say mean things. I never beat him in a battle…" There was a pause in the storytelling as Skylar turned his head away. I wasn't sure, but I thought maybe he was hiding tears.

"The professor carried us in our pokéballs in his briefcase, just me and the other two. My brother always stayed in the lab. One day, when he was walking around, he accidently left the briefcase behind. All I remember from that day is having my pokéballs be opened by a trainer, and then having them grimace at me and make me go back inside…it wasn't until later that day that I realized what had happened. The other two had, for the first time, been used in a battle by a trainer. The professor never battled with us, he let us battle by ourselves to become stronger. But that day, the other two had been battle with. We got back to the lab, and not even my brother was there. I was the only one there. I remember being very, very scared. My friends were gone, and for the first time, I…" he paused. "…I was alone." He stopped again for a moment. His voice had become choked up. I let him compose himself, and when he had calmed down, he continued.

"Later that day, a blonde haired boy came into the lab, and held out a pokéball. His eyes were so sad, and he wouldn't meet Rowan's gaze. When Rowan asked him to open the ball, he did, and it was my chimchar friend. I waved to him, and he waved back, grinning. The professor was telling the boy that he could keep chimchar. Chimchar's flame glowed brighter that day, and the blonde boy looked very, very happy. He put chimchar back in his ball and ran out. Just then, another boy came in. This time, it was a blue haired boy, and he also held a pokéball. When he opened it, turtwig came out, and then the professor said he got to keep turtwig, and turtwig jumped for joy. As they left, I watched the door carefully, hoping that someone else was coming for me. But no one else came in. Dawn, the professor's helper, left with the boys, but when she came back, she came over to me and pet my head. With hope in my eyes I looked at her, and I thought maybe she would be my trainer, since she had no pokémon of her own. But…then she pulled out a pokéball, and when it opened, out came my brother. She had taken him, and he was going to be her partner instead. That night, she left on her journey…and again, I was alone." It was then that I realized that he was, indeed, crying. His little shoulders were heaving, but he still had his back to me, so I couldn't see his face. This had never happened to me before: I wanted to comfort him. I had never had a friend to comfort before, so I had no idea what to do. Putting a hand on his shoulder, I spoke comfortingly to him.

"It's alright, Skylar, you don't have to tell me any more." At my touch, he flinched, and then he turned his head toward me. As soon as he did, I wished he wouldn't have. Seeing so much pain in his gentle eyes broke my heart. Sniffling, he wiped his eyes and shook his head.

"N-no, that's the only sad part, y-you should hear the happy part, too." He nodded, trying to convince himself to continue. With a deep, shaky breath, he managed to get himself together and continue. "Professor Rowan felt bad that it made me so upset not to have a trainer. So he took me to the hospital to help cheer people up, and he hoped that would cheer me up. The nearest hospital was in Jubilife City, which was a long walk, but he said there was a special girl I should meet. When we got to the hospital the next day, he took me to a girl's room. That girl was Robyn. She lived in Sandgem Town, too, but she got sick a lot, and had to go to the hospital often. When she first saw me…her eyes just lit up and she insisted that I sit on her bed with her. The professor lifted me up onto the bed, and Robyn hugged me and held me close. It made me so happy to be held like that, so I hugged her back." Skylar's smile had returned by now. "Rowan smiled, too, and he told Robyn that she could be my trainer when she felt better, and both of us were so happy that we couldn't stop laughing and hugging and smiling…and when she got out of the hospital at the end of the week, we started our journey together." With a nod of his head, he ended the story.

I rested my head back, looking up at the stars. I hadn't thought that Skylar's story would be so in depth, and so sad. With such a kind face, and that pink bow on his head, he seemed so fragile, but it seemed that he was stronger than I had thought. To think when I first met him, I was afraid of him…now I just felt bad for him.

"What's your story, Evan?" his soft voice cut through my thoughts once again.

"Huh? My story?"

"Yeah, what's your life been like?"

I hesitated. My story couldn't live up to his. There hadn't been any happy endings for me yet, like there had been when Skylar met Robyn. I mean, when Robyn met Skylar, his problem of not being wanted was solved. Mine hadn't gone away yet, because even though one person cared, I was still hated by every other trainer. Skylar had the advantage of being cute and lovable, which was not the case for me. My story was a depressing one, and I had no right to depress Skylar after he had just gotten himself to be happy again.

"I don't really have a story. I just lived in Mount Coronet all my life. Sorry, my life is kinda boring."

"Oh. That's alright, it isn't your fault." He smiled kindly, having no idea that I was lying. Or maybe he did know. I never asked.

"Hey!" Dalia's sharp voice pierced the kind and gentle atmosphere of our conversation. "Some people are trying to sleep, rock-head, can you shut up?"

"Dalia, I started the conversation…" said Skylar quietly, trying to calm the starly, but she would have none of it.

"He's just keeping you awake. Let Skylar and the rest of us sleep, won't you?"

I sighed and turned away. "Good night to you to." I could hear her feathers ruffle as she lay back down. Skylar sighed and mumbled a soft "good night," then slowly fell asleep.

I lay awake for a few minutes more, lost in my thoughts, before I, too, fell into a deep slumber.


End file.
